Dancing in a Hurricane
by WitchyGirl99
Summary: Inuyasha Taisho. Codename: Agent X. He doesn't have charm but he's really good at killing people. It's unfortunate his handler in Intelligence doesn't count that as a form of seduction. InuKag.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Day 8 of the 12 Days of Witchyness!**

* * *

 **Dancing in a Hurricane**

 **Prologue**

* * *

"Your name, please."

"Taisho, Inuyasha. Designation X."

"And can you tell me, before we begin, why exactly you're here?"

The agent snorted, disdain dripping as the words startled to tumble out of his mouth. "Because The King told me it was mandatory or I would be grounded."

"For the record, you do not want to be here."

"I would rather stab myself in the leg and then pull out the knife to see how long it takes to bleed out, frankly."

The psychologist didn't sigh, but it was a close thing. "Inuyasha–"

"Have we had sex?"

The man narrowed his eyes slightly, taken aback. "No."

"Have we ever been friends?"

Silence ensued. The psychologist just stared at the spy, waiting.

"Then it's X to you," Inuyasha stated, interlocking his fingers and leaning further back into the chair. "Or Agent Taisho. So what do you want to talk about first? My childhood? The first time I ever killed? The first time I ever loved?"

The psychologist, a bald man in his mid-forties with grey eyes said nothing. He was newly assigned to the agent, probably because every other psychologist refused to see him anymore. Inuyasha had a reputation amongst the entire spy agency, from other agents like him down to the technicians that made his guns. Everyone knew about the infamous X, Agent Inuyasha Taisho. The one who killed without hesitation, blended in the shadows and shone in the light. His mission completion rates were off the charts. He was the best the agency, known only by their acronym of F.A.N.G., had.

Eventually, the man spoke, setting aside his tablet and instead reaching for his coffee on the nearby table. "My name is Dr. Otomo, and I think we're going to get along really well."

* * *

 **Trust me, so much more is to come.**

 **Feedback is love.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Prepare yourselves because I am just now starting to respond to reviews sweetly given to me from January 1st. GAH. I AM THE WORST.**

* * *

 **Dancing in a Hurricane**

 **Chapter One**

* * *

"Go left, X! Go _– What are you doing?_ "

"Trying to stay alive! What kind of shit directions are you giving me, Yura?"

Kagome Higurashi, Class 3 Intelligence at F.A.N.G., couldn't look away from the large, multi-screen television at the front of the room. She was assigned to Agent X's intelligence team several weeks ago, when the agent had returned from a particularly bad mission. Before her new assignment, she had only heard about X in the form of legends. The things he had done to save the world. The explosions he had caused. The people he had killed. None of it could be confirmed, of course. Class 4 and over didn't work for particular teams but rather for F.A.N.G. as a whole. It was all above their paygrade. But now, freshly promoted and ready for an actual challenge, Kagome couldn't believe the madness that was truly going on.

"Do _not_ engage, X. You are to remain in the black. Do you copy me? X, do you copy?"

At the front of the room, working at a standing desk holding two different laptops, a desktop and a tablet stood The Minder. To be more specific, Agent X's Minder. The Minder was the individual who led the Intelligence team – a group of Class 3 individuals like herself – and fed all of the necessary information to their agent. One Minder was permanently assigned to an agent, until the time of one of their deaths. When you worked for F.A.N.G., there was no such thing as retirement.

Yura – no last name, no one gave last names – was Agent Inuyasha Taisho's Minder.

It had become apparent pretty quickly that the two of them didn't often see eye-to-eye. They were efficient, but bluntly so. Yura gave X the information and in return, he occasionally used it effectively and without explosions. At least some of the legends appeared to be true: Agent Taisho was not one to follow instructions. Not Yura's instructions, anyways.

Sounds of gunshots rang through the room.

The stress was almost unbearable. The hours she worked now as Class 3 Intelligence were difficult, but nowhere near as awful as their Minder's. Quite frankly, Kagome almost regretted her decision to accept the promotion. Class 4 was challenging without being grueling. It was interesting without keeping her up at night. But this–

"Mother _fucker_ , what kind of intel are you giving me?" Agent X hissed into the comm. "The fence is electrified. I can't climb it for shit."

Yura snapped out directions to her Intelligence. Kagome wasn't assigned to the location parameters of the mission. She was working strictly on the coding for the computer virus, and her job was technically already done. She was still processing the information that was being sent over bit-by-bit. F.A.N.G. worked like an assembly line, where every worker had their specific function to complete.

Location was not in her assigned parameters.

But.

It was easy enough to tag along into one of her fellow co-worker's computers without being caught. Kagome's fingers were a rapid dance along the keyboard as she navigated their taskbars and spread them out over her own computer screens. One screen stayed very much on course; the virus was still working and the information was still decrypting. Kagome split her attention with the same focus she did everything, combing through the data and looking at the blueprints. They weren't even old. The fence was there but there were no electrical circuits noted in, no panelling, no fuses.

"We're looking for another way to get you out," Yura said sharply into her microphone, speaking to her agent. "Head east. There should be cover by the pool. The water will limit their approach."

"Or be yet another great way to die in this hell hole," X muttered, pointedly loud enough for them all to hear.

Kagome scanned the blueprint again, the layout of the sprawling mansion and its massive property. No pool.

But there was a pool.

Sparing the decryption software's progress only a glance, Kagome's fingers flew across the keys as she hacked into the township's municipal records, into the pool enclosure permits. She scoured through them, using F.A.N.G.'s programs to pull up the permit left under a false name. The contractor's name, however, was real. His violations and fines were real.

It took her only a minute to find the common theme and she stood up from her desk, cutting off her co-worker's inefficient rambling of possible options. "Is there a pool house?" She could pull up their mapping system but Yura had that up already on her screens; it was how she knew there was a pool.

Yura's light brown eyes snapped to her, irritation lining her face. "Is there a pool house? This is not your–"

"Why the fuck would I go in the pool house?" Agent X bit out harshly, heard by everyone in the room. "Do you want me dead?"

 _The_ pool house. There was one. "The pool isn't in the blueprints of the house so it was added in. That requires a permit and the contractor listed has multiple violations, especially when it comes to electrical. You'll find the power to the fence in the _pool house_."

It made just enough sense that the Minder immediately turned around, fingers flying over her keyboard as she relayed the information to X. There was a lot of swearing and gunshots but finally – _finally_ – the agent huffed out a breath. "Panel found and deactivated. If I die hopping this fence, The King will kill you all."

Kagome knew the threat was real but she couldn't feel anything but relief. The panel was there; she was _right_. There were two more gunshots and Agent X hissed slightly. They could only monitor his vitals since there were no cameras to hack into, so every sound was a terrifying echo of what they couldn't understand.

"X, are you out?" Yura asked, gaze still focused on her desktop.

"Yeah, I'm fucking out," X snapped. "Heading to the rendezvous point. Make sure it's ready to go."

Kagome couldn't see the Minder, but she could only imagine how hard the woman was rolling her eyes. "Do you need medical?" Yura asked briskly. She pointed to another member of Intelligence, who got to work on what was probably the extraction.

"Fuck off," X replied. "X out."

And then the line went completely silent, indicating that the agent killed the comm between them. Yura didn't even flinch however. She told one of the team member's that she wanted medical there anyways. She focused her attention on the extraction and timing before pulling away from her desk, gaze hard. The Minder was headed straight towards her.

Kagome tried to ignore it, the impending sense of doom. She hadn't screwed up yet in her few weeks of being assigned to X's team, but that didn't mean this one thing couldn't get her booted. She was right though. It was a good decision. Did she hack one of her coworkers? Yes. Did she leave the parameters of her job? Technically, yes, but the virus was doing its job without her staring at it uselessly.

By the look on Yura's face when she had no choice but to look up at her, it didn't matter. "What was that?" the Minder demanded, voice firm.

"I wasn't actively working. My assignment required very little attention so when you needed answers I participated." Kagome kept her face as blank as possible. Inside she was freaking out but this was F.A.N.G. and you didn't work here if you were weak. It was survival of the fittest in more ways than one.

"You shouldn't have had any access due to your assignment." Yura didn't phrase it like a question but she knew an answer was required.

"Somehow I did," she replied, not owning up to anything. Hacking into her team's computers wasn't technically illegal but it wasn't exactly _allowed_ either. Any Intelligence member could be working on a number of things that Kagome may not have been privy to. Getting into their systems would classify as a security breach.

Yura didn't sigh, exactly, but she didn't look happy either. "Don't do it again." She tapped her finger on the computer's monitor once and then turned around sharply to speak with the team member Kagome hacked into. Probably about their complete and utter failure in assisting when required to have options.

Kagome completed her assignment and uploaded everything, creating backups when required and logging in important data points for reference.

This was Class 3 Intelligence. This was some of the most difficult work in F.A.N.G.; most couldn't handle it.

She refused to back down.

* * *

Inuyasha was really fucking pissed off. "Not _you_ , god-fucking-damn it, Yura." He closed off comms a while back because hearing that woman's voice was going to make him do something even more stupid. However, seeing the man before him in the helicopter made him regret it. He would love to give her a piece of his mind.

The guy ahead of him was giving him a shit-eating grin. Bastard, just like he remembered. "X! How are you doing, mutt?"

What a fucking idiot. Inuyasha glared at him, debating whether he should turn around and find another way out of the country. He lost the gunmen long ago but it didn't mean they weren't still trying to track him down. Surely he could make it though. He'd survived worse, even with two separate bullet grazes bleeding into his jacket.

"Don't be like that," Kouga Matsuno cajoled, batting his eyelashes. "Get inside. We've got a medic here and everything."

Fucking Yura, holy fucking shit. The two worst things to have happened to Inuyasha today were at that very moment, and that included the shootout and near-death experience with the electrified fence. Those were walks in the park compared to this shit. Kouga Matsuno, otherwise known as Agent K, would be dead if not for the fact that they were employed by the same organization. The guy was full of himself.

And medical. Well. He just hated medical.

Against everything he stood for, Inuyasha got on the helicopter as the blades started up. Strapping in, he pointedly ignored his headpiece so that he couldn't communicate with anyone. The doctor looked irritated and Kouga looked smug, but fuck it.

They were only a couple grazes. He had survived far worse with nothing more than electrical tape and vodka. The grazes weren't even bleeding anymore so the doctor was entirely useless for the trip. He really needed to tell Yura to back the fuck off.

The helicopter lifted into the air and while it was loud, he let it all turn into white noise. The mission was a success though a close one at that. Inuyasha much preferred going dark on missions. There was something about gut instinct that was far easier than dealing with a Minder. Some of the other Agents, like Z and J, actually liked theirs. Q never seemed happy about anything and frankly, Inuyasha would rather shoot himself than ask Kouga.

Today was unusually bad though for his Minder. The fact that she was unaware of a fucking electrical fence spoke volumes. It wasn't the first time either that her direction put him into difficult situations. Little by little, Inuyasha was finding himself trusting her less and less, going against orders just because his way looked clearer. That wasn't always the case but listening to his Minder wasn't a guarantee either.

It should be a guarantee, or at least as close to one as an agent killing for an international spy agency could get.

There was a tap on his shoulder. Inuyasha glared at Kouga, who was gesturing at him and trying to push the headpiece on him. There could be something important though the chances were slim. Regrettably, he put it on, glaring all the while. "What?" he asked sharply.

"We've got one more stop before we get to the runway," Kouga said. "I've got a contact to meet but it's on the way. No more than twenty minutes, tops."

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha nodded. All he wanted to do was get back to HQ, write up his report, workout and then go home to sleep the past three days off. It wasn't too much to ask for, honestly. He killed probably six people today. For a mission that was supposed to be completely in the black – otherwise known as having no one spot you – six was a lot. If The King blamed him for this, he was going to throw Yura under the bus. It was her shitty directions that got him stuck.

The helicopter lowered as they approached an industrial area. There were large, bland buildings with huge spaces that were nothing more than dirt and gravel. If Inuyasha cared to, he'd roll his eyes again. Kouga, always with the fucking dramatics. It was like Agent K preferred his life to be like a James Bond movie. The stupid bastard was meeting with a contact in a desolate, industrial area. How goddamn cliché–

So suddenly he actually got whiplash, the helicopter violently rocked to the side. Buckled in, the movement only jerked them around. The doctor turned as white as a sheet and Kouga was swearing viciously. There was a beeping coming from the front and Inuyasha knew that the helicopter was going down.

"What the fuck have you done?" Inuyasha demanded, looking right at Kouga. Too many things were happening at once but this wasn't his first crash and it likely wouldn't be his last. Whatever hit the helicopter had it careening on its side, leaning more and more like it was going to roll. The pilot was yelling and Inuyasha managed to see exactly where they were, crashing towards some warehouse.

He had once chance.

The helicopter was nothing more than an aerodynamic brick, hurtling to the ground. There were gunmen on the ground surely waiting to kill them. If he crashed with the helicopter, there wasn't a chance in hell that any of them would survive. Taking two quick breaths, Inuyasha undid his seatbelt on the third and leapt from the seat. His foot caught the edge and he used it to propel himself forward, preparing for impact.

The freefall was much longer than expected.

Inuyasha couldn't stop the grunt that forced it way past his lips. The warehouse roof was as hard and unforgiving as expected, his body in stabbing pain as he rolled over and over. "Fuck, motherfucking fuck," he hissed, pushing himself up. Inuyasha didn't even take a minute to catalogue his aches; if anything was broken, he would find out soon enough. He took a step, then another and kept going even though his body screamed not to. He was bleeding again, that much was clear. Son of a bitch.

He staggered to the edge of the roof, clearly able to see the disaster that was the crash. Just like he expected there were armed men starting to approach it, guns at the ready. Well, fuck them. All he wanted to do was go home. Inuyasha counted as many as he could before he reached into his holster and felt the comforting weight of his Walther PPK. Taking out the gun, he took aim, shooting one in the head before lining up and shooting another through the back. He picked off another gunmen before they started to notice and then they were returning fire or ducking for cover.

The roof was such a bad fucking idea. Inuyasha dodged a spray of bullets as he backed off, heading towards the roof access door. Of course it was locked, of fucking course. Inuyasha considered kicking at it before he took a couple steps back and shot two bullets into the locking mechanism. He kept the weapon in hand as he swung the door open, running down the stairs. They would be coming for him but he wasn't any good to Kouga or the others inside of a warehouse. He needed to get out and kill the gunmen, one by one if he had to.

They definitely had assault rifles, that much was clear when they shot at him. They may or may not have had grenades. He hadn't dealt with grenades in a while. There was a reason for that. He hated those fuckers.

A massive explosion suddenly went off and he felt the effects on the stairs. "Shit, motherfucker," he hissed again, finally getting to ground level. He surveyed the room, hearing the telltale signs of assholes in hiding. Looking around, he tried to find something helpful to distract them. There was a loose pipe on the ground which would have to do. Grabbing it, he threw it as far as possible and kept a keen eye for any sudden movement.

The gunmen were military trained, at least. The reaction to the pipe falling onto the ground was instantaneous and Inuyasha spotted two fucks immediately. He slid between crates, watched as the assholes realized they were played and then shot them, one of the bullets missing and embedding in the concrete wall behind. The sound of heavy but quick footfalls made him twist around, a bulking man attacking him with fists and sending his head spinning. He aimed but his brain was frazzled and the shot went an inch wide, just grazing the skin. The man twisted and continued to approach, Inuyasha stumbling back to get his bearings. He hated thugs, _hated them_.

The thug attacked first again, left fist followed by the right. Inuyasha dodged both, landing a kick to the stomach to send the guy backwards. He aimed the Walther, fired and nearly growled in frustration when there was nothing more than an ominous click.

Fuck. God-fucking-damn it.

Inuyasha tossed the gun at the thug's head and bent down, freeing the knife at his ankle. It was a very close call as the other man attacked once more, sending him rolling along the ground. And honestly, didn't that feel great to do again. The man took hulking steps towards him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up only to smash his head down onto the concrete ground. He saw a hell of a lot more than stars but Inuyasha jammed his knife into the guy's neck, blood splattering everywhere and onto his face. There was gurgling, his body pulling away but collapsing just to the side.

Inuyasha breathed in quietly before getting up, grabbing his knife and cleaning it on the dead man's shirt. He holstered it once more and went to search the other man for a gun, finding a Glock 17 with five rounds left inside.

It was better than nothing but not by much.

Making his way out of the warehouse, the sound of gunfire grew louder and louder. He spotted one man kneeling behind a makeshift wall of cement blocks and promptly shot him in the head. There were no other gunmen in site but the helicopter was just outside of his vision, around the corner. He crept closer, gun level and unwavering despite the bleeding. In fact, if asked at all Inuyasha would say the pain wasn't even there. It was just him and his gun, the adrenaline of the situation pushing him forward. There was a scream, cut off as abruptly as it started.

Inuyasha rounded the crash site and saw Kouga standing over a body, the man's face completely shredded and a knife in his jugular. Turning around, he looked and listened for any other movement. There was no way to tell before just how many attackers there were. He had killed five himself, but Kouga could have handled any number of them. While he didn't like Agent K, the man's hand-to-hand combat was nearly unparalleled. Agent J would be the only competition and that was because the guy was a fucking brick wall.

"Any left?" Inuyasha called out, lowering his weapon but still taking a look around.

Kouga turned to stare at him, the man's face completely covered in blood and grime. His dress shirt was torn to shreds and there was something sticking out of his stomach; it looked like metal and probably hurt like a bitch. "Don't think so," the agent replied. "Have you called HQ?"

And that was where he and Kouga didn't see eye to eye. The guy actually liked his Minder so having that kind of backup twenty-four-seven was ideal. Inuyasha couldn't stand his so the thought of even reaching out to HQ never occurred to him. "No."

"Goddamn you," Kouga sighed. He looked down at himself and then started to remove the shirt. "Fucking open a channel. The pilot and doc are dead. Pilot from the crash and the doc because of these bastards."

"Your contact is a piece of shit," Inuyasha replied because it was the only logical reason why this would happen. They were airborne and safe until they started to land so Kouga could talk to whoever this contact was. There had to have been some sort of sell out, a price higher than whatever Agent K was giving.

"Yeah, yeah, fucking call them," Kouga retorted, trying his best to stop the bleeding around the metal. "I don't think I should pull this out."

Inuyasha wanted to ask if he would, just to do him a favour, but instead he turned around and opened up a channel on his comm. In only a matter of seconds, a voice descended upon him. "Agent X, this is Yuka," a woman stated briskly. "What's your status? We received notification of damage to your transportation. Location is verified."

"That's because our helicopter was shot out of the sky and now Agent K is bleeding to death. We need evac, immediately." He frowned at the other man.

"Agent K's Minder has been trying to establish communication but his comm is down," Yuka said. She didn't need to respond to his request, mainly because you didn't refuse agents in the field.

"I'll give him mine. Transfer it over. X out," he said, pulling the damn thing out and handing it over to Kouga. "Your circus now."

The other agent rolled his eyes but took it, hands bloody. Inuyasha wasn't concerned; he knew Agent K had survived a lot worse. All of them had. It was part of the job; an acceptable risk that only they could take. There were five agents total with their designation: himself, K, J, Q and Z, all considered Class 2. Everyone else at F.A.N.G. had other jobs, important but not to the level of necessary as the agents.

Then there was The King and The Watcher. It was pretty easy to tell which class they were.

Though he had never met The Watcher, The King was constantly on his ass. The stupid fucking evaluations were all at his request and couldn't be denied.

If Inuyasha had his way, he would disappear for a couple weeks. Some psycho analyst staring at him and asking questions sure as fuck would never help him. He wasn't broken, no matter what anyone else thought. None of the agents were.

"Hey, fucker," Kouga called. Something hit his back; a rock, probably. What a dick. "ETA is twenty minutes. You think we can survive out here long enough? Whoever those gunmen were working for probably needed to call and check-in. No check-in means we get checked."

"No shit, Sherlock." Inuyasha kicked one of the dead bodies, enough to roll him and see what he was carrying. Another pistol, a knife. Both useful for now.

"Well?"

He glared at the other agent. "I'll survive just fine but if you open your fucking mouth again, I'll kill you myself."

Kouga rolled his eyes and reached out a hand towards him.

Inuyasha threw a gun in his direction, even though the guy was a complete and total asshole. Survival was, at the end the day, the most important thing after mission success.

The King did not take kindly to failure.

* * *

At this point, Kagome wasn't surprised when Agent X's latest mission went to shit. To be fair, it was entirely his fault. Yura had told him that he needed to escape the burning building. She told him exactly where to go and exactly how to get there. Her directions were blunt but effective, just like the rest of her.

X wasn't remotely inclined to agree.

Kagome wasn't sure why that was, really. When she was Class 4 Intelligence, she heard the rumours that Agent X was by far the worst. She also heard about the other agents and how their relationships with their Minders were generally different. Not always pleasant, not always perfect. But there was trust, at the very least.

Watching the screen in the front of the room, there was blurry camera footage from the building they hacked into. Agent X shot one guy in the face, spun and then pistol whipped another attacker.

The problem was the fire and the fact that it was a very real danger on the floor X was on.

"You need to get out of there X," Yura said, voice raised and clearly frustrated.

He ignored her. In fact, he shot a woman in the chest and then flipped off the camera they were watching. Their working relationship was undoubtedly getting worse. The fire was now visible to the cameras, smoke filling the room and making everything hazy. In a few seconds, they wouldn't be able to see him at all.

"Get outside footage," Yura demanded, pointing towards one of the Intelligence team members. "I need medical on standby. X, can you get out?"

There was no response.

"X," Yura repeated, firm. "I know you can hear me, the comm line is still active. Get out of there."

A hoarse cough bounced along the line and then there was the distinct sound of gunshots – three sneezes of the silencer – and then the screech of shattering glass. He was jumping out of a window. How the hell was he going to _jump_ when he was that high? It wasn't– It couldn't be possible– But before anything else could be heard, the line went dead. Complete silence filled the room after a sharp click and Kagome could feel the tension seep into the room. They didn't even know if he landed okay. If he was still alive. The tension had fallen like a wet blanket and all of Intelligence kept their heads pointedly focused on their monitors.

Yura spun around, mouth a hard line. "Where is my outside coverage?"

"I can't bypass–"

"Move." Yura didn't shove the agent over, but she very clearly stepped into the space the man once occupied. He was newer, Kagome recognized. Sandy brown hair and light eyes. Started with an H or something. Within moments, Yura was stepping away and outside footage was coming up in various rectangles on the main screen. The burning building was surrounded by thick black smoke, various ground crew and firefighters running around. Police had barricaded the area. Men and women in suits were being herded further away.

"Why isn't facial recog finding him?" Yura demanded, turning her attention to another set of Intelligence members.

"It's running," a woman named Eri stated. "It's just not picking him up."

"Not possible, that block is covered in CCTV. He's good but there's got to be even a small percentage find on there."

Kagome's assignation was ongoing, a meltdown of the system Agent X had broken into. Coding was just one of her many specialties but it was hardly difficult once the algorithm was dancing, flying over bytes of data and disintegrating all of it, copying only what was clearly useful. Yura had made it clear that she wasn't to overstep her bounds again; she couldn't go outside of her role. Her fingers itched to break into the CCTV but she'd surely get caught. There was too much attention on it.

"Find him," Yura said, barking out more orders before the ringing of the Minder's desk phone went off. She scowled and stalked over, answering it and barely saying anything more than ' _No_.'

The tension didn't leave the room, even after she hung up and didn't leave. They parsed through video footage for hours, long enough that finally Kagome was given permission to search. No one was allowed to go home. Finding X was top priority. With each passing hour, it was more than likely that the agent had gone AWOL. It wasn't like he hadn't done this numerous times before. Agent X had a reputation. It wasn't a good one.

Eventually, at one in the morning the daytime crew were allowed to go home and Yura left with a determined look on her face. Kagome was scheduled overnight so she didn't look up from her desk as Intelligence members slowly stretched, turning off their computers and disappearing into the elevators. They would likely be back within the next seven hours anyways, resuming the search if X still hadn't been found.

Kagome actually wasn't sure if they _would_ find him. Again, she had very little knowledge of the agent besides the rumours. She hadn't been a part of his Intelligence team long enough to really know. But it was like he ghosted out of that burning building. There was no record of him leaving at all but clearly he had. They all heard the glass shattering. The CCTV footage even showed the broken window but the smoke was coming out of it far too thick to see anything, the resolution of the video too low. He could have jumped out, maybe caught the fire escape that was below. The chances were incredibly unlikely.

But he jumped. Why else would the glass have shattered? The bullets would have only weakened it, enough that X could have jumped through. Floor-to-ceiling windows don't just break without force.

To make it worse, it was obvious that X didn't _want_ to be found. His comm line died completely, so he smashed it. The last known signal was in the burning building where they last saw him. And then he jumped.

Kagome stared at the various coverage surrounding the building. Facial recog was shit. It was like it wasn't even doing anything. All the faces it covered weren't even a close match. Where did he go? She watched again the window breaking, the smoke flooding out thick and billowing. Where was X? Where did he go?

Narrowing her eyes, Kagome stared at the video as hard as possible, a thought crossing her mind. Something so stupidly simple–

She switched her attention to different CCTV footage, focusing more on the ground crew and fire fighters. They were outside of the building for hours, trying to put out the fire. It wasn't until a few hours later than some went inside at the ground level. She counted bodies, looked at the facial recog to try and discern who was there. It was a painstaking hour of footage, checking and re-checking and triple-checking. It was difficult because the masks took away a lot of visibility, lowering the percentages of matching a person. It was like trying to constantly solve a shifting puzzle.

But.

But one firefighter didn't come back.

It was impossible, but Kagome was running the recog over and over. There was a man who went in but most certainly didn't come out, even as the crews switched. There was no way that someone didn't notice a fellow firefighter was missing. They would've noticed quickly.

Somehow though, X did this. That meant that X got out in their gear, ducking from CCTV enough that facial recog would never be able to pick him up.

So, now it was just a matter of figuring out which firefighter was a little too good at ducking the cameras.

That was actually the easiest part and pretty soon, Kagome was following the trail of a man in gear, leaving the scene. One block away and CCTV could barely pick up the sight of a said man ditching his outfit, the thick clothing getting thrown into the bushes. The cameras were further away in this area and X was clearly aware of it. For the next thirty minutes, all Kagome did was try to track him. Several times, X disappeared, nothing more than a ghost. But Kagome was nothing if not dedicated, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she hacked her way into anything that could track him.

It occurred to her that she should be calling the Minder. Yura should be aware of this development.

Kagome kept typing away and pushed the voice screaming at her away. If she lost X then there was no point anyways. The agent didn't want to be found and he was clearly okay.

But why would he leave? Why would he finish a mission and then ghost out when shit started to fly? He was due to come back to headquarters. While difficult, everything was completed. The target was killed and the company's mainframe was dismantled and destroyed, every tiny piece of data with it.

X was famous for going AWOL, since he was the only one that had done it more than once. Z, Q, J… None of the rest ever did unless the issue was dire and called for it.

This? This didn't call for it.

Kagome sat back in her chair, blinking rapidly to try and bring moisture to her eyes. Everything was so dry. The air was stale, tension still baked into the room. The massive monitor before them kept flipping through different camera footage, faces appearing and disappearing in seconds. There were still seven of them working away, all dead silent. The guy who screwed up – H something – was still there too, face buried in a screen.

Looking back at her computer, Kagome watched the lazy movement of the dive bar she was monitoring. There were only a handful of customers and a bartender, an older gentleman with a thick mustache cleaning some glasses.

And there, at the bar top, was a hunch over figure with long black hair tied up. He wasn't wearing a suit but instead a pair of ill-fitting jeans and a sweater, thick and hooded. Agent X obviously went through someone's laundry. She had to give him credit.

She reached for her phone, the realization that she needed to call Yura humming in the back of her brain.

Instead, she dialled the number of the bar.

Watching as the bartender turned towards it, Kagome tried to figure out what her game plan was here. This was completely against protocol. She should be calling Yura. The footage she followed to find the agent should be compiled.

" _Sparrow Jacks_ , _what can I do ya for?_ "

"Hi there," she said, as kindly as she could while keeping her voice low. Her heartrate was picking up, hands getting clammy. This was _absurd_. "I'm so sorry to bother you but I was wondering if my brother was there?"

" _Darlin', there are a lot of men in here_." The bartender sounded amused though, leaning against the wall and smirking. " _A lot of husbands and brothers and uncles and the like, understand_?"

"Sure, sure." Kagome bit her lip and went for it. "His name is X."

" _X?_ "

There. The agent didn't react sharply but it was a very distinct tilt of the head, his dark gaze undoubtedly going towards the bartender. Kagome couldn't see his face but oh, she wanted to.

"Yes, his name is X," she told the bartender. "He's in a hoodie. Probably sitting at the bar, knowing him. He's not much for booths." The bartender focused right on X. This was her only chance. "Can you please just tell him that his sister is worried about him?"

" _I'm no messenger, sweetheart._ " But he was gesturing to X now, pointing at the phone. " _Just because a sister cares doesn't mean he wants her to."_

"Please," Kagome begged, trying to sound like a desperate sister would. "Please just let me talk to him. I know he's there."

There was a loud sigh, muffled over the line. She watched as the bartender covered the mic on the phone and then leaned over towards X, saying something. He looked wary but Kagome figured X's face wasn't exactly friendly at the moment. If she was trying to hide like he was, Kagome wouldn't be happy if she was found either.

Slowly, X took the phone and held it to his ear. " _You have ten seconds_."

"I haven't reported anything," Kagome said quickly. "I'm calling to make sure you're actually not dying and don't need assistance."

There was silence for a beat, two. Kagome knew her seconds were almost up. " _Who the fuck is this_?"

The bartender looked up from where he had gone back to cleaning glasses, even more wary than before. He should be. X could kill him without batting an eyelash. Kagome tried to keep calm, tried not to let her heartrate get the best of her. "I'm part of your Intelligence team." Time was up. "New. To your team. I just– I know you go AWOL but I had to make sure."

" _Show off._ " X shook his head and Kagome desperately wished in that moment that she could see his expression. " _Why not report me_?"

"Didn't think you wanted to be found."

" _You could be terminated_."

The screaming, angry voice in her head was well aware of that. "I won't get caught." Hopefully. She didn't say that part out loud. But she had to ask something, couldn't let the conversation end without at least trying to get to the bottom of it. "Why disappear?"

She watched the video footage, saw the unnatural stillness that came over the man. There was never a more deadly predator. The line was quiet and Kagome couldn't even hear him breathing. Maybe he wasn't. There was more than one rumour about Agent X's strange inability to stay dead.

" _Why not report this_?" And with that last, charming question, X stood up from his seat at the bar and hung up the phone. Kagome watched, unable to stop herself, as the agent left some money by his half-filled pint. He was out the door in moments and instantly she switched footage, trying to get access back into the CCTV. It wasn't located directly at the bar however and it didn't take long to realize the agent had disappeared.

"Shit," Kagome muttered under her breath, desperately getting into any camera in the area. Mostly it was red-light footage, which wasn't helpful. It was dark and she was searching for a highly-trained field operative who made it his life's work to stay in the shadows until a final strike.

Basically, she was looking for a man who couldn't be found.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviews:**

Wolfsmaid: Why thank you love! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Mal: It's actually not, although I definitely agree with you that the tone of voice in this is similar to something I've done before. I've been writing this story on and off for a long time. I'm just obsessed with spy stories. OBSESSED. Thanks darling!

Phoenixwings37: Oh thank you :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! (You've disabled replies to reviews, so I thought I'd thank you here!)

* * *

 **I solemnly swear that I'll respond to everyone as soon as possible. Thank you for bearing with me. A new chapter of _That Flesh of Mine_ is coming out soon.**

 **Feedback is love.**


End file.
